The present invention relates generally to a ski binding and more particularly to a ski binding intended for use in cross-country skiing, which may be variously referred to as long-distance skiing, langlauf skiing or Nordic skiing. For the sake of simplicity herein, the term cross-country skiing will generally be used.
A cross-country ski binding is disclosed for example in German laid-open application (DE OS) No. 27 21 976, for a cross-country ski boot having a forwardly extended portion on the front end of the sole of the boot, the extended portion being of a stepped configuration to form a retaining hook means on its top. For that ski binding, a base plate which is to be fixed with respect to the ski has two side jaw or plate members for laterally guiding the forwardly extending front end portion of the sole of the boot, while also acting as a stop arrangement for restricting the movement of the ski boot towards the tip of the ski. The side jaw members support a horizontal transverse spindle which in turn carries a double-armed retaining lever, the free end of the arm of the lever which faces away from the tip of the ski being of a bent configuration to form a hook engageable behind the retaining hook means on the forwardly extended end portion of the sole of the boot. The second arm of the lever can be secured to maintain the hooking engagement, whereby the front end portion of the sole of the boot is held to the base plate.
The double-armed lever is retained in the engaged position referred to above, by the second arm thereof being acted upon by a spring which urges it towards the position that it adopts in use of the ski binding. That means that for example the binding does not have a fixed or clearly defined open position, while in addition, while removing the boot from the binding, the retaining lever must be constantly held in an open or release position, for example by means of a ski stick. In addition, when fitting a boot into the ski binding, the retaining lever also has to be actuated to open the binding to receive the boot, if a layer of ice or snow has formed in the region of the front end of the sole of the boot, on the ski. That can easily occur by virtue of the binding being of an open construction, without affording any protection from such icing.